Chief Executive Officer Simon joined The PPRO Group as CEO in March 2015 following a decade with Sage Group PLC, over 7 years of which he held the CEO position at Sage Pay. Simon led the company through dramatic growth to become the UK’s leading payment gateway for SMEs. He also led the creation of Sage One, the leading online accounting and payroll application.

Simon has an MBA from Georgetown University and has extensive experience in consulting and business, and in his early career founded a marketing software start-up company as well as holding senior strategy and brand consulting roles both in the USA where he lived for six years, and in the UK.

Philipp Nieland studied economics and computer science at university and founded PPRO in 2006. He is responsible for the company’s business operations and business development. In 2003, he founded his own consultancy firm and ran the company as CEO. From 2000 to 2003, he was Manager Systems & Applications at Telefónica. Philipp founded his first company, a consultancy firm for internet technology, at the age of 19 while still at university. Building on his entrepreneurial skills and wealth of expertise in information and network technologies, Philipp is committed to driving the growth of PPRO.

Tobias Schreyer, BA in Business Administration, is the co‑founder and Chief Commercial Officer of PPRO. As an undergraduate in 1995, he set up the internet service provider GEDIK GmbH in Munich. In 2006, he established Gibraltar-based Transact Network Ltd. Other positions along his career path include Vice President Business Development and Sales at WireCard AG and Director of Payments at Bay Management Ltd. Certified anti-money laundering specialist, Tobias is primarily responsible for issuing operations at PPRO, concentrating on sales activities and business development in the prepaid cards segment.

Brigitte Holzer, BA in Business Studies, has been Chief Financial Officer of the PPRO Group since 2012. She is also a partner, a director and a member of the Board. Prior to joining the PPRO Group, she was Manager Financial Planning & Analysis at Adobe Systems GmbH, a role she was appointed to in 2009. Prominent positions attesting to the depth of her financial expertise and experience include Senior Manager Finance, HR & Administration at the VoiceCash Group, Chief Financial Officer of Voice.Trust AG and Director Finance of Cybernet AG. In addition, she has been a member of the Supervisory Board of Ecotel Communications AG since 2006. From 2004 to 2012, she was a member of the Supervisory Board of Linux Informations AG.  At PPRO, Brigitte played a key role in the due diligence process which resulted in HPE Growth Capital’s investment in the PPRO Group. Her focus is now on the long-term profitability and growth of the Group.

Ralf Ohlhausen, MSc in Mathematics and Master of Telecommunications Business, has over 25 years’ experience in e‑commerce, financial services, mobile telecoms and IT. Before joining PPRO Group, he was President Europe at SafetyPay. Other management positions on his international career path took him to Digicel, O2, British Telecom and Mannesmann-Kienzle.

At PPRO, Ralf is responsible for expanding the company’s portfolio and global reach, as well as developing new business areas and partnerships.

Since the end of 2016 Ralf Ohlhausen is a member of the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) of the European Central Bank (ECB) representing the interests of the Electronic Money Association (EMA).

Markus joined PPRO Group as Chief Operating Officer in June 2017 following a previous role as Managing Director of Customer Fulfilment at Six Payment Services where he led global operations. At PPRO Group Markus is be responsible for developing the operations department into a global best-in-class service delivery team with consistent high quality and efficiency. He is responsible for the management of the Customer Service teams, as well as the assessment of corporate processing, issuing and acquiring operations. Markus works closely with the senior management team to continue the company’s rapid growth, advance its vision to lead innovation across the payments landscape and maintain its position as one of the most significant fintech companies in Europe.
Prior to Six Payment Services, Markus was COO at Swisscom Banking, where he led the Banking Operations team, and managed one of the largest IT transition and transformation programs executed in the financial messaging sector. With 20 years of experience in the banking industry across Europe and the Middle East, Markus has a deep understanding of the global payments industry. Markus attained a PhD from the university of Fribourg, Switzerland, in applied Psychology and Finance, where he now acts as a guest lecturer on Information Systems.

Christian joined PPRO Group in May 2017 as Chief Product Officer, following more than one decade of experience in the online payment industry. Christian has a proven ability to develop, build and sell payment products with a broad and deep understanding of the payments technology and processing space, including payment acquiring, processing and issuing.

Prior to joining PPRO Group, Christian held various management positions including Executive Vice President Global Product Strategy at Wirecard and Senior Vice President Head of Strategy and Business Development at ClickandBuy.

As CPO at PPRO Group, Christian is overseeing the acquiring and issuing products of PPRO. Working alongside CEO, Simon Black, Christian will shape the evolution of the alternative payments offering as well as the prepaid card programs. He will help PPRO Group’s partners and ensure global success, securing the company’s position as one of the most significant and fastest growing fintech companies in Europe.

Before joining PPRO Group as Chief Sales Officer for Payment Services in 2016, Ronnie held senior strategic positions at large financial corporations, such as American Express and Paysafe (previously Skrill). As SVP Sales at Skrill, Ronnie implemented a complete restructuring of the company’s sales strategy and operations to deliver considerable and sustained growth, culminating in a year-on-year growth trajectory of 23 per cent. This ultimately led to the company’s €1.1bn sale to Optimal Payments in 2015.

With his proven track record and experience in the fast-moving payments industry, Ronnie works to attract and recruit new Customers into the business. All while managing, providing support and delivering growth for existing partners and customers. As one of the fastest growing FinTech businesses in Europe, exceeding customer expectations remain a key component to PPRO Group’s ambitious growth plans.